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CALLING ALL COOKIE DECORATORS! We have some really SWEET news! Sandra Beltran of You Can Call Me Sweetie is coming to ISAC this year to teach not one, not two, but THREE amazing cookie classes! We are also pleased to announce that Sandra will be featured as our guest instructor at this year's Grand Holiday Open House! I am pretty excited for these three classes, but maybe not as excited as Molly who is a pretty great cookie-er too!! Want to know what stunning cookies Sandra will be making? Well read on my friends!

Another weekend, another fabulous class at ISAC. This past weekend Studio B hosted Chef Dorothy Klerck from South Africa, teaching her mythologically insprired Mighty Pegasus class! I did not have my normal post Open House photo blog (because we wanted to share the blog on CookieCon... which sold out in ONE HOUR), so I thought I would share the progress photos from start to finish from Chef Dot's class. Hope you all enjoy!

What an amazing class! All of the pegagsus cakes look just amazing! I hope all of our students had a great time. A big thank you to Chef Dot for teaching your Mighty Pegasus class in Studio B!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

Hello friends! I have fun and exciting news to share with all of you! Chef Nicholas will be at CookieCon! Hooray! Last year was the first time Chef Nicholas attended CookieCon, but I never mentioned it here on the blog. If you are thinking to yourself, Stephanie... why did you TELL US Chef was going to be at CookieCon? That my friends, is an easy answer. The 2017 CookieCon event sold out so quickly that I didn't even get the chance to write a blog about it. That's right... the event sold out so fast that the blog I was preparing became irrelevant by publication day! Yes, CookieCon is THAT AMAZING. 

It's been a very busy week here at the International Sugar Art Collection. As you may well know, we have our annual Spring Open House in just two days time. The week leading up to our Open House events are always busy, and this week has been no exception. Molly and I were both at ISAC late into Monday evening prepping all of the handouts for Chef Joseph's and Chef Sachiko's demos. Molly has been ordering all kinds of fun new toys and molds for all of you to check out in our gallery this weekend. And, after driving all the way back from Texas on Monday night, Chef Nicholas been putting the final touches on his demo! 

We are so thrilled that both sessions of our Spring Open house has sold out! We are so excited to see you all there! I thought as a fun treat this blog, I would leave you with a fun little history of the chocolate easter egg! I hope you all enjoy!

In 1828 a Dutch inventor created the press that would allow cocoa butter to be separated from the cocoa bean. Before this, chocolate could only be consumed as a hot drink. It's likely that the first chocolate eggs were created in either France or Germany, and were probably solid. It would still take another 19 years for British chocolate maker, Joseph Fry, to mix melted cocoa butter and sugar to form a type of chocolate paste that could be pressed into a mold. Using this chocolate paste to line a easter egg mold was painstaking work. 

In 1866 the Cadbury brothers came up with a method to create large quantities of cocoa butter, and in 1875, the first Cadbury Easter Egg was created! These early eggs were filled with sugard almonds (YUM), and had a plain shell. Today, milk chocolate eggs are the most popular. The Cadbury Creme Egg is very popular in the United States, and are made with liquid chocolate. The chocolate is poured into molds that are "half shells." These are rotated so that the shells are all the same thickness. Once the chocolate has cooled, two halves are joined together to form the eggs we all love to eat at Easter time. To keep up with the large demand, Cadbury produces their chocolate eggs for eight months of the year!

If you are lucky enough to be attending our Spring Open House, then you will all be learning how to make chocolate eggs! Chef Joseph will be showing our guests how to create chocolate easter eggs that can even be used as a cake topper. I don't know about all of you, but now I want to go eat some chocolate, and maybe start writing a blog on this history of chocolate to share with all of you! 

See you all on Saturday!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

Last week I told you that Chef Sachiko had added a super hero man cake to her upcoming March classes with us in Studio B. This week, I am here to share the brand new design for the Bride and Groom class she is offering! With this style topper, Sachiko will show you how easy it is to create this enchanting couple. All the skills you learn in this class can be applied to your future fondant creations, and you can reimagine this couple in any arrangement that best suits your occasion! The wonderful thing about this class, is you will be learning the skills on how to make both male and female fondant figures. That means that you will leave this class will the ability to turn these two people into any one you would like! From real life friends and family to super heroes, fairies, mermaids, anyone you can imagine! This class is open to ALL skill levels from Beginner to Professional. All tools and materials are provided. 

There are still seats available for this wedding, I mean class! If you'd like to sign up, just click here or the photo above. 

I have one more request for all of you: we need your help and opinions! We are looking ahead at our upcoming schedule and would like to know what guest instructors you would like to see at ISAC, or what types of classes (or techniques) you might like to see from Chef Nicholas! If you comment below by next Wednesday (March, 2, 2018, by 5pm EST) a winner will be selected at random from everyone who has commented! The winner will receive a signed copy of Chef Nicholas Lodge's latest book, Spring and Summer Flowers in Gumpaste, and a Click Twist Brush in the color of their choice! 

Thank you all for sharing your ideas, dream classes, and instructors you'd love to learn from! We look forward to heaing your interests and working toward them for you!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

If you follow us on social media or subscribe to our blog or newsletter, you must have heard about the brand new Renshaw Academy! Renshaw Academy is a certification program consisting of three modules: Sugar Flowers, Sugar Paste (rolled fondant), and Royal Icing. Each of these courses is one part of the Renshaw Academy Master Certificate; once all three modules are completed, a Renshaw Academy Master Certificate is awarded! This is a brand new program, with brand new course material developed by Chef Nicholas Lodge. Chef Nicholas will be teaching all three modules in 2018 (including a second Sugar Flower module), as well as a Master Certification class. Oh, and good news if you are Canadian; Chef Nicholas will be teaching a Renshaw Academy Module in Ontario!

March Madness usually refers to the big college basketball tournament here in America. I am using it to discuss the class schedule at ISAC this March! We have three guest instructors in March teaching a total of five classes, Spring Open House, one Chef Nicholas class in Texas, and two Chef Nicholas classes at ISAC. AND, one of the classes at ISAC is part of the BRAND NEW Renshaw Academy series! Let me tell you about all of our March classes, and hopefully you will find a class that you'd like to register for. 

Big news everyone! The incredibly talented Ceri Griffiths is coming to ISAC this November, all the way from the UK! Chef Nicholas and Ceri have known each other for years, but this will be the very first time that Ceri will be teaching at ISAC in Studio B! Ceri Griffiths, author of the award winning book "Border Inspirations 1&2" and internationally recognized English over-piping expert, will be teaching his English Over-Piped Elegant Wedding Cake class. This is an intensive 2-day royal icing class.  Ceri will share with you several of his piped borders, his method of creating toothpick roses and many hints and tips to achieve beautiful work in royal icing.

This class is aimed at students who have previous piping skills due to the volume of piping involved and the pace of the class.

THIS IS NOT A BEGINNERS CLASS!!!

I always get excited when Chef Nicholas has BRAND NEW classes on the schedule! Yes, that means Chef Nicholas has two new classes for you all to enjoy: Gumpaste Wedding Flower Spray and Springtime Gumpaste Flowers! 

In less than two months ISAC will host our 2018 Spring Open House on March 10, 2018. This year we will have two guest instructors that we know will be crowd pleasers: Chef Joseph Cumm and Chef Sachiko Windbiel! As many of you know, Chef Joseph is a frequent guest instructor in our Studio B. Just this past December he taught several French Macaron classes; we started with one, and it sold out so quickly that we ended up adding additional classes! Earlier in 2017, Chef Joseph had taught a chocolate bonbon class and a chocolate showpiece class! All of his classes were very popular, so it was only fitting to invite Chef Joseph to be a part of our Spring Open House this year. 

Chef Sachiko is a Renshaw Brand Associate Partner, or as Chef Nicholas likes to say, "BAP." Chef Nicholas has worked with Chef Sachiko quite a bit in recent years due to their Renshaw Americas association. Sachiko is also the designer of the Chef Nicholas Lodge page picture! She has not taught at here in our school with us yet, but we are all huge fans of her work. Yesterday, we received her demo project and the plans for her classes after the Open House... wow! You are all going to be amazed! 

Yesterday, Katy Sue Designs debuted its Seaside Collection! I am so excited for these new molds; they are a mix of realistic designs as well as some whimsical ones! There are eight great molds that you will all love!

In 2017, we had the pleasure of hosting many fantastic guest instructors in ISAC's Studio B. I am excited and pleased to share that 2018 will be no different! As we are finalizing the ISAC 2018 schedule, we have been updating our online class registration page. This week, we were please to finalize all the details for one of our guest instructors- Dot Klerck!  

You may remember Dot from her Clyde the Giraffe class that she taught in Studio B back in May 2016. Well, this time she will be teaching something a bit more magical: a beautiful flying Pegasus unicorn! This whimsical flying unicorn is taking off from the ground, and has a beautiful golden horn. Dot will be instructing her students on how to  create this fully 3D, gravity defying cake! 

This class will be held on March 17-18, 2018 in Studio B. The cost for this class is $550.00. However, if you register for this class before 2/1/2018, you will receive $50 of the total price! So, that means if you register now, before February 1st, you will get the special price of $500! Um, yay!

Please remember that Dot Klerck is coming ALL THE WAY from South Africa. It's not easy to get a class with her in the US, so take advantage of the special pricing we are now offering and sign up for this magical flying unicorn! We are so thrilled to be hosting Dot again, and we know that this class will be just as popular as her last class with us! 

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award.

Now that the holidays are over, everyone is settling back into the groove of everyday life. Kids are going back to school, adults are going back to work,and life is back to normal. But... did you get everything you really wanted for Christmas? Or maybe you got some money as a gift that is just burning a hole in your pocket? Well, then you just come on by our retail gallery or our online shop! ISAC is having our 2018 New Year Sale! 

As 2017 comes to a close, the ISAC family wants to wish everyone a happy 2018! Chef Nicholas will be on the road again a lot this year. There will be opportunities to see Chef Nicholas on both coasts, down south in Texas, and in the Midwest! No matter where you live, Chef Nicholas will likely be coming to a city near you! On our website, you will be able to find many of Chef Nicholas' 2018 away classes, as well as some of his classes at our home location in Norcross (Atlanta), Georgia. 

Our Spring Open House is just three months away, and we are excited to be hosting Chef Joseph Cumm and Chef Sachiko Windbiel! Seats are already selling, and this is a one-day event! We know how much everyone loves our Open House events, so sign up now before it's too late. Give yourself a little New Year's present and sign up for a class or the Spring Open House with us in 2018. You can find a list of Chef Nicholas 2018 classes on our website here.

Have a very safe and fun New Year's Eve! Chef Nicholas, Scott, and the rest of the ISAC family look forward to seeing you in 2018!

 ISAC 25th Anniversary Fun Fact: In 2017, Chef Nicholas Lodge's International Sugar Art Collection celebrates it's 25th Anniversary of opening it's doors. Thank you to EVERYONE who has been with us these past 25 years, thank you to those who have joined us, and thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate this huge milestone with us this year!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award.

Chef Nicholas, Scott, Molly, Carol, Janet, Ann, and I all want to wish you the very best this Christmas! This is the time of year when it is important to reflect on the year we have had and remember all of good times we have shared. The ISAC family is grateful for all of our students, clients, as well as all of the amazing guest instructors who visited and taught in Studio B this year. 

Most of all, Chef Nicholas and Scott were thrilled to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the International Sugar Art Collection. In 1992, Chef Nicholas and Scott opened shop. I think I speak for all of my co-workers when I said that we were honored to be a part of ISAC during such a meaningful and emotional time. 

Your ISAC family wishes you a happy and healthy Christmas. We hope to celebrate with you for another 25 years! Merry Christmas everyone!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award.

For several years now, ISAC has been making Edible Snow Globes during the holiday season. .We have even hosted several competitions for Edible Snow Globes; the submissions were pretty spectacular! This year the Edible Snow Globe Domes were part of our 12 Days of Christmas sale! I have good news. If you are still trying to decide on a gift for a co-worker or teacher, or would like a fun family activity to do over the holiday, you'll be pleased to know that we have extended our sale price for the Edible Snow Globe Domes! This set of 6 (which include the domes and the bases) is normally $12.99, but the sets are currently on sale for only $4.95 (plus S&H)! 

If you have been following along with our big 12 days of Christmas sale you know our BIG NEWS!! Chef Nicholas Lodge and ISAC now have an Amazon storefront!! YAYYYYY! This means that all of our Renshaw Americas rolled fondant, ready to use royal icing, and gumpaste are available on Amazon! All your favorite NL Line cake decorating tools are also available for purchase on our Amazon storefront. There are also some fantastic DVDs by Chef Nicholas Lodge and Chef Lauren Kitchens. 

Having all these products on Amazon is very convenient and easy for all of our customers. But, I have even better news! If youy are an AmazonPrime member, you'll be pleased to hear that each of these products are available on Prime! That means FREE 2-Day shipping! This is fantastic news if you need to order 10 pounds of fondant!

A word about the Renshaw products in our storefront. If you are IN our Amazon store, you will see only one listing for Renshaw Americas rolled fondant. Do not fret! You will need to click that particular link to access all of the sizes and colors. Once you click the link, you will be able to see each of the four size options (2.2lb, 5lb, 10lb, and 22lb), and each of the 16 color choices (red, orange, yellow, green, bright green, aqua, blue, bright blue, navy blue, purple, bright purple, white, ivory, black, brown, and pink). 

I love AmazonPrime myself, so I have been so excited for this launch, and I hope you are too!

I mentioned earlier, our 12 days of Christmas sale. We have done this the past few years, and it's so much fun and so popular with our shoppers! Today's big sale is Patchwork Cutters: Buy one, get one half off! Be sure to check back every day of the sale, as there are new deals each day!! 

Chef Nicholas has been working hard to finalize the 2018 class schedule. We are working on Chef Nicholas classes at home and on the road, as well as lining up some exciting guest instructors. I will share the schedule as soon as we have every detail worked out. Stay tuned my friends!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS! Last week the Omni Grove Park Inn hosted its annual National Gingerbread Competition, marking 25 years of this amazing event. People of all ages, from all over the world, bake and decorate and make their way to Asheville, North Carolina every November to show off their delicious masterpieces. And these gingerbread "houses" are truly masterpieces. 

The special anniversary also meant that the FoodNetwork was on site filming this year's competition! Scott wasn't able to get quite as many photos this year due to all the filming. Bad news for Scott... BUT good news for all of you because the FoodNetwork will be airing the Omni Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition's 25th Anniversary Special sometime in December. The special will be an hour long, and as soon as we know the details with date and air-time I will share it with you here on the blog!

Let's take a look at some of Chef Nicholas' favorite entries from each of the categories, starting with the Child group.

Selections from the Youth Category:

The talented teen category:

Without further ado.... I give you the top three finishers from the 25th Annual Omni Grove Part Inn National Gingerbread House Competition

Third Place

Second Place

Grand Prize Winner!

I also wanted to spotlight the judging team! Once again, Chef Nicholas was Lead Judge, and his team this year was spectacular! They do not have an easy job. No, sir. There are so many entries in each category, and a set of very specific rules that must be followed. Occasionally some of the entries are even drilled into to ensure all rules have be respected. 

Thanksgiving is here once again. Hopefully during this holiday you will be gathering with family and friends and sitting down to share a meal at your home or the home of a friend or loved one. If you choose or prefer, a cafe or restaurant, there is nothing wrong with that. No shopping, prepping or dishes to wash!

All of us at ISAC would like to take this opportunity to say, “thank you,” to each of you. We are very grateful and appreciative to each of you; the students seeking to learn by attending a class, a demonstration or watching one of our Facebook Live sessions. The customers who walked into our gallery, stopped by our booth at a cake or trade show or clicked on and visited our web site. Thank you! Every day, not just this time of year at Thanksgiving, but every day. We understand you have a choice when seeking out your sugar art and cake decorating supplies, and we thank you for choosing Nicholas Lodge and ISAC. We constantly strive to offer you only the best products, backed up by our helpful, knowledgeable and friendly customer service.

Also your continued support helped us reach a major milestone. This past July, ISAC celebrated our 25th anniversary. Yes, 25 years of classes, teaching, demonstrations, magazine articles, instructional DVD’s and on-line classes. But none of this would have happened, or would have been needed, without the support of our fantastic students, customers, and shoppers. Again, we say “thank you!”

Everyone at ISAC hopes you have a safe, fun and enjoyable Thanksgiving. Let’s grab that turkey wishbone together and make a wish...a wish for an even better tomorrow for all of us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From, Nicholas, Scott, Molly, Ann, Stephanie, Janet & Carol

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award.

Well, it's a wrap folks! ISAC's 2017 Grand Holiday Open House weekend was fantastic! We had two fantastic guests, Tunde Dugantsi and Reva Alexander-Hawk. They, along with Chef Nicholas, offered three exciting and inspiring demonstrations. As has become tradition, this week will be a photo blog dedicated to the weekend's festivities! However, before I share photos from the event, I wanted to remind everyone that the NL Collection by Katy Sue Designs officially launched this week! You can purchase all of Chef Nicholas' new molds from our website, click here. If you were at our Grand Holiday Open House, you got to see these amazing molds in action before anyone else in the world!